Upgrade from Pass Labs XP15 Phono

@dishman442 I agree, not sure what specifically is deficient about a Pass Preamp. 

@laaudionut I did reach out to Aric, thank you.

Thank you for all your input on my phono pre research. I am currently auditioning Lab12 Melto2, Grimm Audio PW1 and Rega Aura. by the way, Mark at Fidelis Music Systems is a great guy, and has really nice equipment at his store in Nashua NH. He also has tons of used records, great place. 

The Lab 12 Melto2 Tube phono pre sounded great with my system, edging out my existing Pass Labs XP15. The Lab 12 had better separation, and was very detailed. I was wondering if the Melto2 would add any noise running with the Decware Sarah 300b, but it was dead quire. Tonight the Grimm PW1

Cool. Tell us the outcome.

If you ask Nelson directly he will share his own awareness and support of his own customers running tube preamps with his Pass Labs amplifiers.  He told me personally its quite common, and referenced awareness of those who run the same Cary tube preamp I run now, fwiw. It was common years back to see ARC, Cary, VAC preamps paired up sometimes with Pass Labs amplifiers.  

He'll tell you, he's not a tube guy, and defers that business to others who really know tube components well, however... one exception, while not phono based...

and not exactly the same, Nelson did create his own version Korg NuTube Preamp kit for customers who wanted to experiment with it. I had conversations with Nelson when he was designing this and it was inspiring he was willing to give it a go! 

I ran Audio Research preamps with Pass amps for a couple of decades.

Also, Pass amps have been getting better in the last decade or so with better rhythm and pace /  mid range than ever before.